Mazen El Helwani

Lebanon

“To date there are 11 applications under my name on the Google Play Store”.

This is how Mazen El Helwani begins his coding story, which began by pure chance thanks to his son, Najeh.

Like every father who notices his son’s immersion into the virtual world behind the screens of computers and phones, Mazen wanted to monitor what was going on in the virtual world himself.

“Every generation has its geniuses and in 2020 you will discover your child’s ingenuity in this field. Support him and don’t obstruct his way”, he advises. This is a message that Mazen is determined to send to every father who insists that sitting behind computers is a waste of time.

“My son spent days pursuing lessons of coding via the One Million Arab Coders initiative. After obtaining a certificate, he became a coder who can implement large impressive projects. There might be a little inventor in your house and you don’t even know it, can you imagine?!”

Najeh took the road before his father and convinced him that coding is a world that accommodates all ages and backgrounds –scientific and professional. It is not a standalone discipline, rather it is a skill that complements, motivates and brings dreams on paper to life.

As for Mazen El Helwani, the summer of 2009 wasn’t like the other seasons. He lost his mother, the dearest person to his heart. He wasn’t able to fill the void left by her death except by reading the Holy Quran.

Mazen spent days and nights expressing his anxieties among the noble verses and interacting with them, until he noticed the numerical miracle in the Holy Quran. That was always the closest subject to his heart in many conversations he had.

After graduation from the One Million Arab Coders initiative, he didn’t wait long to develop his first application. From this success, the number of applications he developed has increased to 11, which he credits to his son – the teacher – as he likes to call him.